Akil Wright takes full responsibility for his momentary lapse in concentration which gifted Livingston a starting point in their Scottish Cup defeat of Ross County.
The Staggies were defeated 3-2 by the Lions after extra time in Dingwall, to exit the competition at the first hurdle for the sixth successive season.
In the latter stages of the first half, Wright’s bizarre handball led to the award of a penalty – which Robbie Muirhead tucked home.
County twice pegged the Championship side back to force extra-time, but Andrew Shinnie’s goal in the final minute of extra-time took David Martindale’s men through.
Defender Wright, who has been a superb performer since making the summer switch from Stockport County, held his hands up for an error of judgment which kick started Livi’s victory.
Wright said: “The penalty was unusual. I have gone to head the ball and my arm is up and I can’t explain it.
“Obviously I didn’t intentionally handle the ball. It was like a strange reaction. I may have misjudged the flight of the ball and it ended up hitting my hand.
“It starts from there and I’ll take full responsibility for that. It’s on me.
“It was a freak thing but it got them started and they got a goal and it gave them more confidence.”
Staggies got what they deserved for below-par showing
County levelled through Jordan White in the second half, however the Lions quickly regained the lead through Cristian Montano.
Ronan Hale’s equaliser took the game to extra-time, with Shinnie coming up with the decisive goal to prevent a penalty shoot-out.
Englishman Wright insists the scoreline was no injustice on his side, with the Staggies below par throughout the afternoon.
He added: “We are more than frustrated, we’re disappointed. They were up for the fight and from the first minute you could tell that they were more than we were.
“We just weren’t good enough on the day, myself included. We weren’t our usual selves and we paid the price. Even in extra time we didn’t deserve to win. They were outright winners and fully deserved it.
“We went into the game confident we could win. But we didn’t start right and deserved to lose, if I am totally honest.
“We reacted not once, but twice, but it wasn’t enough.
“We didn’t do the basics right and they punished us. We’ll go over it on Monday and discuss the issues. But we have to keep our heads up.”
Wright is determined not to allow the cup exit to derail County’s Premiership campaign, with Hibernian the visitors to Dingwall on Saturday.
The 28-year-old said: “We’ve been on a good run and we’ve got Hibs next week. They have also been on a good run, but we are still confident we can win.”
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